Adventure Magazine Cover — page 116: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

108 “It isn’t a wall! It’s a ruin! Heavens, look at this!”’ There were several slabs of stone standing in rows like tombstones in a churchyard, green and mostly covered with fungi. Billy started to hurry on, but Fieldmorre was scratching with the butt of his rifle. “T say, come here, Tromp,” he called to me. “Look at that.” In the patch cleaned up by him, deeply engraved in the stone but worn with time, were numerous marks. “Steles undoubtedly,” commented Field- morre. ‘Don’t you think so?” “Search me!” said I. ‘Looks like Egyp- tian hieroglyphics to me.” “No, no; they’re older than that.” “Hey!” came Billy’s voice, but in a sub- dued hail. ‘‘Where the are you? Here’s a darned temple!” We hurried on and found him in frofit of the ruined walls of what evidently had been a temple at some remote period. It seemed to have been a portico, for there were the remnants of pillars carved in stone to represent the convolutions of a snake. The side walls were down, with pieces of masonry beneath the undergrowth. Right behind the pillared entrance, if such it had been, was a tree of enormous growth with vast branches which drooped to the ground and had taken root again. We explored behind it and found there more ruined walls. As I was forcing my way through the undergrowth I nearly let out a yell as what had seemed a bunch of brightly colored leaves suddenly uncoiled and faded away. “‘Darned place is another snake house,” I muttered disgustedly, and moved quickly in the opposite direction. But I hadn’t got three paces before the ground disappeared and | shot through the undergrowth until the creepers, catching my outstretched arms, held me suspended. Swearing, I began to wriggle, but finding I was slipping deeper, had to call for help. Billy came scurrying over, nearly kicked me in the face with his bare foot and promptly disappeared from sight altogether. I heard a muffled and forcible exclamation as I shouted a warning to Fieldmorre, head- ing for the same fate. Advancing cautiously after he had spotted my head, he dragged me out. In answer to polite inquiry for Billy to tell his whereabouts, there came a flery exhibition of language. Adventure “What’s the matter? Where are you?” we called softly. “Where am I? How in know! Come and get me out, you of beef, instead of yawping there! The place is alive with adders and snakes and -—— only knows what.” ‘Keep on swearing,” I advised him. “It'll help to lead us to you.” He did. We located him beneath the undergrowth. By tearing with our hands we finally managed to reach his hands and drag him out, covered from head to foot in green stinking slime. Spluttering and snorting, he began to tear off his robes. ‘But see here,” said I, suddenly recol- lecting why we were there. ‘We can’t stop for a bath, Billy, or those —— will be on top of us!” “Can’t help it,” spluttered Billy, energeti- cally wiping his face on a clean patch of the inside of his silham. “Anyway—why not— stop here? Good—place to hide or scrap— as—any.” ‘““That’s true,”’ assented Fieldmorre. ‘‘We don’t want to get too far away anyhow, in case we can get in touch with the other chaps.” “Glory!” I exclaimed, recollecting Gand- hi’s yarn. “Maybe they daren’t come after us here? I mean, as they think these snakes are sacred—must not be touched or hurt— Get me?” “That’s right,” agreed Billy, rubbing his beard in a handful of leaves. ‘Phoof! They’ve got darned good taste if they don’t.” “But the snakes!” said I, suddenly seeing another point of view. ‘‘They’ll drive me crazy!” “Go to it, boy,” said Billy callously. ‘And when we get back we’ll put you in the yip house and they’Il fix you fine.” “But seriously,” opined Fieldmorre, “I’m sure we can’t do better than stop here. I think that there’s something in Tromp’s idea of their not daring to come after us because of the holy serpents. They’ll prob- ably think that their gods have eaten us.”’ ‘“‘Gandhi won’t,”’ I objected, thinking still of those darned snakes. “Maybe not,” returned Billy; “but it’s more’n probable that he’s taught ’em to keep away from tabu ground, and it’ll take quite a while even for him to teach ’em not to mind. Come, you fellows, let’s clear away some of this muck over there and make should I slab GOMIIGooOO S (C@